To explore the clinical value of short-term laparoscopic exploration under epidural anesthesia in judging the survival of the contents of incarcerated inguinal hernia.

A retrospective study was conducted in 35 patients with incarcerated inguinal hernia who underwent open surgery from January 2017 to December 2018 in Department of Hernia Surgery, Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital. They underwent short-term laparoscopic exploration under epidural anaesthesia due to suspicious survival of hernia contents in open surgery. Surgical operations were carried out according to the results of the laparoscopic exploration.

Short-term laparoscopic exploration under epidural anaesthesia was performed for 35 incarcerated inguinal hernia patients. The hernia contents were bowel. The operations on the 35 patients with inguinal incarcerated hernia were all successful. There was 1 case with intestinal necrosis after laparoscopic exploration. General anesthesia was used for laparotomy of necrotic intestinal resection, and simple internal ring repair was performed. The remaining 34 cases with intestinal function recovery underwent open tension-free hernia repair after laparoscopic exploration. All patients were followed up for 1 year, no recurrence was found.

In incarcerated inguinal hernia patients with suspicious survival of hernia contents, short-term laparoscopic exploration under epidural anaesthesia can be used to explore abdominal cavity safely and effectively, and to observe the situation of the hernia contents, providing ideas for clinical treatment of incarcerated hernia.